Could sports survive without politics or if one looks at the equation from another angle, could sports be entirely void of politics – well the answer could be quite tricky.

Just delve into the past and the very Olympic philosophy. Take for instance, Marathon, an integral part of the modern day Olympics.
The legend says the name Marathon is derived from the story of Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. It says he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens about 40 kilometres away to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
It is said that Pheidippides ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming “We won”, before collapsing and dying.

If the legend is accurate it all began with a war between two nations. But the incident took place a few millenniums ago.

Now the world is supposed to have changed and sports have evolved to take their own identities in human society. Especially the Olympic movement is a separate entity which is governed by its own non-political values (but is embroiled in its own internal politics – our own football Fernando episode is a fine example and a testimony to that).

However, to the outside world, Olympics has stayed non-committal where politics is concerned. This was evident when even during the height of the ‘cold war’ the American and Soviet athletes performed on the same track and ascended the same podium and stood next to each other to receive their medals, though this was not so during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and Moscow due to tit-for-tat political manoueuvres.

Right now in Sri Lanka there is a huge furore going on about the National Olympic Committee elections.

The two main actors in this episode are – Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and the incumbent National Olympics Committee (NOC) chief Hemasiri Fernando. However, right now, one cannot decide as to who the villain is – or who the hero is.
Well Aluthgamage is a hardcore politician and in the same vein Hemasiri Fernando is not far from it. They both live under the roof of the present political regime. Hemasiri Fernando was secretary to former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and now is the Secretary to the Ministry of Postal Services and a close confidante of Minister Jeewan Kumaranatunga who incidentally was also a former Minister of Sports. He is even an advisor on sports to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Going back to the crux of the episode in question, initially it was said that the NOC elections were scheduled for December 27. At the same time it was also announced that the NOC chairman for the past sixteen years Hemasiri Fernando would not face the ballot box this time.

However it was also learnt that the three sports bodies that Hemasiri Fernando associated with– Archery, Handball and Equestrian – had also been brought under a microscope by the Sports Minister through the powers vested in him under the Sports Law of 1973.
In turn, Hemasiri Fernando under the powers vested in him by the Olympic movement told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the Lankan Sports Law does not read well with the Olympic interpretations and aspirations.

Nevertheless by then there were two camps coming into the elections for the seats of the NOC. The Sports Minister’s blessings were on Dilan Perera from the Volleyball Federation (ironically also a prominent minister of the present regime) while Rohan Fernando of Rowing fame and a member of the NOC Executive Committee had the backing of the Hemasiri Fernando camp.

It is also learned the IOC had on a previous occasion, too, had raised issue with the Lankan Minister of Sports about the contents of the Sports Law.

With the heat of an Olympic election, things went beyond the control of the Lankan Minister of Sports and to douse the ignited fire a contingent comprising members from both camps met IOC officials in Lausanne, Switzerland.

However before flying off to Switzerland, both parties met and agreed that they would speak out in one voice and that is what exactly transpired in Lausanne.

The IOC pointed out that there are 204 member countries in the movement and they have varying cultures and aspirations and that was not the contention of the IOC. However the IOC took a firm stand where governance, accountability, autonomy and non-political interference were concerned.

It was also pointed out that changes should be effected not only in the Sports Law, but also in some of the National Sports bodies that are affiliated to the NOC and they also should fall in line with the IOC stance.

Now the task is with the Sports Ministry which would have to bring amendments to the Sports Law of 1973 to fall in line with the IOC requirements. At the same time the NOC also should get the respective National bodies which are not falling in line with the IOC stipulations to make the necessary changes. In turn, the NOC is also required to make the necessary changes in its constitution. The IOC gave the Lankan contingent between 6 to 9 months to fulfill these requirements. Until then the NOC will not be permitted to hold its elections.

Though this was summed up in two paragraphs or so the task at hand is daunting. If they fail the repercussions would be disastrous. Just imagine when the Lankan government is already going through some other political trauma; the IOC takes steps to suspend Sri Lanka’s membership in the world body.

In political terms nine months is a long period. Many things could occur in some 275 days. This means experts sitting to arrive at a decision on how to amend the Sports Law to fall in line with the Olympic needs. Thereafter they would have to bring it for scrutiny of Parliament and get it passed.

One wonders what would happen. Would there be many a slip between the cup and the lip?

Earnestly can one make the difference between sports and politics? What happened in cricket — a game that is not affiliated to the NOC? Never-ending politically ridden Interim Committees were the feature at one point of history. The International Cricket Committee rapped the authorities and they duly called in for democratic elections. But, was there any democracy in that fray. Everyone knew the person who got the hot seat came with the blessings of the high chair and everyone else accepted the fact. The same applied even for some other vital posts. Up to now there has been not even a whimper from any quarter on what happened. We hear of another story about how a place in the national side was decided at a VIP forum outside cricket. No one protested though it was a 35,000 foot question.

Where cricket is concerned we feel that the powers vested in the minister are too high. The minister appoints the national cricket selection committee. What qualifications the minister possesses to appoint them. So far no Sports Minister has had the honour of donning the real national crest which is won by national athletes.

Besides that once the national selection committee selects a side it has to be approved by the respective sports minister. There again the question that you have to ask is — besides the powers vested in him by the sports law what other technical qualifications does he possess to authenticate the names in the contingent?

Sports should have their own identities and they should be void of politics by quite a distance. But, sincerely in a society like ours can it be done. Can anyone seek justice justly within the existing framework?

We are happy that even at this late stage the lid is open and Pandora’s insects have taken wing. Our only wish is that there would be a ‘they lived happily ever after’ ending.